Karat, Digvijay Singh to attend JNU first alumni meet

New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) general secretary D.P. Tripathi and parliamentarian Digvijay Singh will be among those to attend the first alumni meet of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Nov 5.“We have not met our alumni for a long time and for this purpose we are organising the meet. We will make efforts to organise it annually,” said JNU public relations official Poonam S. Kudaisiya.

Around 600-700 former students of the prestigious university from across the globe will congregate at their alma mater during the four-day event, known as Alumni Association of JNU-2008.

Discussion on ‘Crisis Economy’ by member of the Economic Advisory panel to the Prime Minister Prof G.K. Chaddha and CPI-M MP Sitaram Yechury will be one of the highlights of the event.

The JNU community says this event is to recognise the contribution of the alumni in different fields of life.

“JNU has produced people who have excelled in different fields of society, especially academics, media and bureaucracy. The JNU alumni has created a particular kind of culture, which makes a deep impact on the life of individuals and society as a whole. This event is to recognise their contribution,” said Amir Ali, faculty member JNU.

JNU alumni who have been awarded Padma Awards will be felicitated by the varsity on the last day of four-day event. The awardees include University Grants Commission Chairperson S.K. Thorat, Jammu University Vice Chancellor Amitabh Mattoo and Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad University Syed E. Hasnain.

JNU is one of the premier universities of India, which draws students from every region and all spectrums of Indian society. There are about 6,000 students in JNU and its teacher-student ratio at 1:10 is rated as excellent.